M-10: A STRANGER I REMAIN

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"Man, Sasayaku sure is a coward, hiding behind a factory full of soldiers," Yang commented, shaking her head as Abe fiddled around with the projector.

"I couldn't agree more," Ironwood nodded. "It is a leader's duty to lead his men, not use them as a meat shield." Then he thought of something. "Now, if these were robots, it'd be a bit different."

"You don't have to justify yourself, Jimmy," Qrow assured the General, as the lights began to dim. "Your men know you've got their back when it counts."

"Thank you, Branwen."

"Shh! It's starting again!" Ruby whispered excitedly.

The episode began with Adam emerging on the roof of the Dust refinery. His face was still uncovered, allowing his brand to be exposed to the moon, which had since swapped places with the sun during the Faunus's trek through the factory. Adam brushed a hand against the edge of the burn that disfigured his face, relishing the cool night air.

Whitley shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

"Is that really..."

"Don't." The youngest Schnee sibling shrank as Adam regarded him coldly. "I've already been asked that question twice now. I'm not taking off my mask a third time."

"Then it is," Willow whispered, before placing her head in her hands. "I can't believe you, Jacques! My father would cut out his own heart and feed it to the Grimm before he allowed an employee of his company to be treated like cattle!"

As Adam began to stroll across the rooftop, looking for another way down, he became aware of a figure standing before him. The bull Faunus narrowed his one good eye as the same, chocolate-skinned woman before sauntered towards him, a smile upon her face as she brushed a lock of her midnight black hair out of her eye.

"I was wondering when you'd come, Brazen Bull," she greeted him. Adam's breath came out in a quiet growl at the name she assigned him.

"Nobody calls me that anymore."

"Brazen Bull?" Pyrrha wondered, before her eyes widened. "I heard about him on the news, once! He was a violent White Fang extremist that was responsible for the grisly murders of a dozen SDC officials! That was Adam?!"

"Yes, unfortunately," Blake sighed, placing a hand to her forehead. "I told him killing people was going to come back to haunt him some day..."

"I'd do it again, too!" Adam stated flatly, folding his arms across his chest.

"I'm only here for Sasayaku. Where is he?" Adam demanded, hoping to avoid an unnecessary fight. The woman clicked her tongue, shaking her head.

"Tsk, tsk. I can show you a better time than that old man could any day," she purred, placing a hand on her hip.

"You must be that Titan agent he mentioned earlier," the Faunus deduced. The woman's smile widened as she placed her other hand to her chest.

"I am Ebony Deep, special operative of the Atlas Titans' 'Shades Of Death squad.'" She pointed at Adam. "And you, your reputation proceeds you. A bull Faunus, with hair as red as blood. A natural-born killer, even as a child."

"That was a long time ago," Adam grumbled, his mouth tightened into a grimace.

"Something about this lady is bothering me," Sun murmured, putting a hand to his chin. "She couldn't possibly have seen Adam from the distance he was without technological aid. Even a Faunus would have struggled."

"I know exactly what you mean," Ren nodded. "And take a look at her bodysuit. It looks less like clothing and more like armor."

"Hey, didn't the wolf Faunus who killed Cedar Matthews have a weird outfit like that, too?" Nora pointed out. "All metallic and bulky, I mean. And yet, he was able to leap up to the top of a building. It's almost like he was a..." Her eyes widened as a horrible realization came to her. Looking about the audience, she could see most of her friends had friends had come to the same conclusion. "Wait, you mean they're-"

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